A Bad Day for the BSC
by The-Oddish
Summary: A series of short stories about the BSC.


The BSC's Bad Day  
  
A fanfiction A series of short stories should the unthinkable happen to the BSC. Pretty stupid. Not really one day, but the title was good, so it stays.  
  
Part One, Stacey, Mary Anne's Mistake  
  
I was mildly surprised to see Mary Anne standing on the Newton's doorstep, about to the ring the bell. Namely, because I was supposed to be sitting. It had been booked up two weeks ago. Mrs Newton had a doctor's appointment or something. It was written in my funky new diary Dad got me in New York-for Tuesday, I had shopping w/ Claud (crossed out because I had the sitting job) and sitting for J. & L. Newton, 2 til 5. I checked my watch (also from New York-it was a Christmas present from Dad). It was ten to two. "Mary Anne," I called. She looked startled. "Stacey?" "Did you want to see Mrs Newton? Because I have to sit for Lucy and Jamie," I explained, taking a deep breath, because I suddenly realised that Mary Anne might have done. "Omigosh!" Mary Anne's hand flew up to her mouth. "I'm supposed to be sitting, because I. no." She had. She'd made the first scheduling mistake in the history of the BSC. "Mary Anne!" I snapped. I was mad. I needed this job to pay back that money I borrowed off Claudia to buy my new denim jacket. Besides, I was missing shopping with Claudia right now for this. "But. Mrs Newton must've." It hit me at the same time, and we both said, "Mrs Newton must have rung us twice!" Phew. Mary Anne hadn't done the unthinkable. Just then, the door opened and Mrs Newton saw us both standing on her doorstep. It ended up Jamie having two sitters, which he loved. Mrs N. was kind enough to pay us both, since she admitted it was her fault. But I wasn't happy.  
  
On Wednesday, we were in the middle of a BSC meeting. Dawn was visiting, and she was sitting on the bed next to Mary Anne, Claudia, Abby, and Shannon (the person, and not Kristy's puppy, in case you were wondering). Mallory was on the floor next to Jessi. I was sitting backwards on Claudia's desk chair, and Kristy was in her director's chair, as usual. Mary Anne looked confused, and leant further over the Record Book. "But." she mumbled. Dawn looked concerned. "It's just this. I." Mary Anne muttered, and gave a sniff. "I." She grabbed a tissue. "I think I made a mistake!" While Mary Anne blew her nose, I took the Record Book from her lap. I stared at it. It read: Claudia-art class 3:30-5 and Claudia-sitting at Rodowskys, 2-4:45 for next Friday. It was true. This time Mary Anne really HAD made a mistake. "I. I can't believe it," she hiccupped. "I've never made a mistake. not in. however many years we've been in seventh and then eighth grade." Mary Anne had made a mistake in the BSC Record Book.  
  
Part Two, Kristy, Kristy Misses a Meeting  
  
Jackie Rodowsky smiled his big Jackie smile, but he seemed slightly nervous. "Er, Kristy." I've had enough babysitting experience to know that when I kid says that, they've done they shouldn't have. I held my breath and tried not to panic. But this was. this was. this was Jackie Rodowsky, our beloved walking disaster. We'd been playing Monopoly, Jackie, and his brothers Shea and Archie, until Bo the dog came and upset the game (and Archie). The three of them had gone to put the box away and find something else to do while I went a found them a snack. It was nearly five o'clock, and they were getting hungry. Mr Rodowsky was late. oh, well. Now Jackie had come down to the kitchen with a guilty look. "Kristy. this funny thing happened. You see, Shea said that it would be fun if we turned all the taps on in the bath and the sink, and blocked up the overflow things, an' then we could cause a flood in the bathroom." "Shea!" I called. I was already halfway up the stairs. "Where are you?" I could hear the water running. I hoped I wasn't too late to save the carpet.  
  
"Kristy!" Jackie bellowed. "What?" I asked urgently. "Well. there's something else. Archie said we should put bubble bath in our flood." Oh, lord, as Claudia would say. I wrenched the bathroom door open just in time to see the bath spill water all over the fluffy carpet while Archie stood fully-clothed in the bath, laughing. Shea was laughing too, until he saw me. "Uh, hi Kristy, is our snack ready yet?" he asked hopefully. "Shea." I said warningly. I'd already turned the taps off and yanked the plug out. I lifted Archie out of the tub. "Shea-you help Archie find some dry clothes to put on. Archie-take this towel and go with your brother. Jackie-stand still." With Jackie, it's best not to let him help. There's quite likely to be another disaster. "What were you THINKING, Jackie?" I asked as I tried to remove Play-Doh from the overflow. "It was Shea's idea!" he protested. I sighed. I didn't know what to do about the carpet. If it was just wet, I could've left it to dry. But it was full of soapy bubbles. If I scrubbed it, it would just make more bubbles. When Karen and David Michael dropped washing-up liquid into Andrew's rug, Watson and Mom took the rug outside and hosed it down. Maybe the Rodowskys could hose down the bathroom carpet? I hoped so. Shea and Archie reappeared. "Hi Kristy," said Shea sheepishly. "Shea, surely you realise what a bad idea flooding the bathroom is?" I asked crossly. "Archie suggested it. I just um, improved it," he said, looking down at his wet socks. "I'm sorry, Kristy." "Sorry, Kristy," Archie and Jackie echoed together. They seemed really sorry. "Just don't do anything like that ever again, okay? Check that something's okay before you start doing it, and if you're pretty sure your parents or the babysitter won't like it, then don't do it, okay?" Three red heads nodded. "Good. Now where is your dad? He should've been home about." I stared at my watch. "About half an hour ago." "Oh, didn't Mom tell you before she left? Dad might be late home." Shea offered helpfully, determined to make up for his bad deed in the bathroom. "Oh, great," I said miserably. Wasn't there something I was supposed to do at five thirty? That was in only quarter of an hour! But I couldn't remember. Being summer, I'd been thrown off schedule. Anyway, I was sitting. "We better go and get this snack, then."  
  
Mr Rodowsky and Mrs Rodowsky arrived home at the exact same time, surprised to see each other. "I thought you'd be home," they said at the same time, to each other. Unfortunately for me, at this point the time was 5:56. We'd been busy since the bathroom-flooding excitement. Jackie broke a vase (they assured me it wasn't expensive), Archie dropped a jam sandwich on the floor, and then Jackie stood on it. Jam went everywhere. While I was cleaning that up, Jackie dropped a hairbrush down the toilet (accidentally, he told me). I was exhausted when they arrived home. And then it hit me. BSC meeting! Ohmigosh, I'd missed a meeting! Mrs Rodowsky shoved about triple my usual pay into my hand, and I sprinted to Bradford Court.  
  
Mallory  
  
Abby was sat happily in Kristy's chair. "Order, Babysitters Club!" she bellowed. "She said ORDEEERRRRR!" Dawn yelled. The two of them were taking place as chairman, since Kristy hadn't arrived. I was worried. Kristy would NEVER miss a meeting unless something awful had happened, like Shannon (the puppy) had got hit by a car, or David Michael had to be rushed to the hospital, or. I had waaay too many bad ideas. Mary Anne was checking the Record Book to see where Kristy was. "She must have left the Rodowskys." she said. She sniffed and tried not to cry. "Maybe I should ring her to see if she's at home." "Order, everyone," Dawn said again, even though we were in order. "Okay, any club business?" "Hula Hoops," Claudia suggested, holding out the biggest bag of Hula Hoops I've ever seen (and with as many siblings as I have, you see quite a lot of big packs of food). "Good club business," Abby approved. "I have some too. where's Kristy?" The phone rang. "Ah, first phone call of our best meeting ever, with the best two chairmen ever," Abby grinned. "Chairwomen," Dawn corrected, and picked up the phone. "Hello, this is the Babysitters Club. You provide the children and we'll sit on 'em." Jessi and me giggled. "Oh, hello Mrs Brewer," Dawn said. Pause. "David Michael and Emily? Okay, I'll find out. Oh, and Mrs Brewer, is Kristy there? . What? . Oh. Okay then." Dawn hung up. "Kristy's mom needs a sitter for David Michael and Emily Michelle." Mary Anne checked the Record Book and assigned the job to Abby. "What about Kristy?" Mary Anne asked, her voice shaking. "Kristy's mom doesn't know where she is. She saw her when she drove her to the Rodowskys, and hasn't seen her since." "Oh." Mary Anne's eyes filled with tears. "Maybe Jackie had an accident and." the floodgates opened. Somehow Abby and Dawn conducted the meeting and we got though it. It was 6:02 when Abby yelled, "thismeetingofthebabysittersclubisofficiallyajourned!" And then Kristy ran in, huffing and puffing. "Are you having an asthma attack?" Abby asked. Abby has them sometimes. "No. I. sitting. Jackie. Mrs Rodowsky. late." "Sense make please," Abby instructed. Kristy sat on the floor to regain her breath. "I was at the Rodowskys but they were late home, and Jackie, Archie, and Shea tried to flood the bathroom." "Oh, lord," Claudia said. Mary Anne had tears or relief dripping down her face. Kristy looked worried and said, "I missed a BSC meeting."  
  
Coming Soon: Sitting Jobs DON'T Overrun Meetings The Return of Laine 


End file.
